EVs and Infrastructure

One of the primary concerns that is undoubtedly inhibiting the growth of electric vehicles (EVs) is that whereas there are gas stations located here, there, and everywhere, there aren’t a whole lot of places where people can find a public plug.

Blog Post: 10/7/2013

Gary S. Vasilash

Editor-in-Chief, Gardner Business Media, Inc.

One of the primary concerns that is undoubtedly inhibiting the growth of electric vehicles (EVs) is that whereas there are gas stations located here, there, and everywhere, there aren’t a whole lot of places where people can find a public plug.

While anyone who has spent any time in an airport knows, in the past few years, the number of people gravitating toward outlets has grown exponentially. Chances are, 10 years ago few people even thought about outlets in airports. Now there are people who know exactly where the best spots for charging are.

There needs to be a growth in street corner infrastructure in a somewhat analogous way for EVs to really gain traction.

ABB has made a move toward that, with the development of the Terra SC, a direct-current (DC) charger that is designed and engineered for installation in commercial and office areas.

The Terra SC supports the CHAdeMO fast-charging standard, which means that it can fully charge an EV within a couple of hours and provide a 30% to 80% jolt of juice in less than 30 minutes.

Again, think of the airport and the cellphone. You’re between flights but don’t have a lot of time. So you plug in when you can. You’re not going to get the full recharge that you will when you’re at home, office or hotel room. But you’re going to get something in the battery.

This is the sort of thing that can occur with stations like this. You go to the mall for something, plug in, then get on your way with the addition of some electricity for the journey ahead.

By the way, ABB estimates that charging infrastructure is going to be growing at a fairly brisk pace: it believes the market for charging infrastructure solutions will be worth $1-billion by 2017 and $4-billion by 2020.